Students to Teachers
by KawaiiChibiHime33
Summary: Soon after Soul became a death scythe, he and Maka broke off their partnership on bad terms. Maka left, working over-seas for the Academy. Meanwhile, Soul became a teacher at the Academy. After seven years apart, a new, attractive, and very familiar-looking substitute teacher comes to the school giving Soul the cold shoulder. NOT a made up character. First chapter is an intro.
1. Introduction

_It was normal. Just like any other day at work. Bustles of students preparing for class, gossiping about the latest rumors._

"O-M-G! Did you hear about Kano and Tahaji? I heard they broke up two nights ago, and now Tahaji is already dating Kano's meister!"

"Seriously? I heard that Kano was the one to break it off, and he's dating this new young teacher!"

_My annoying associate was bothering me about stupid things. _

"Yahoo! Guess what? I heard-blah-blah-blah"

_I drown him out. Unless he says something interesting._

"Dude, are you listening? There's this totally hot new substitute teacher coming in, and she might become a full-time teach! I sort of saw her earlier, and I'd totally bang her if I wasn't already with the smokin' librarian! I mean, since you're still single, you can have her. Oh, hey! I think that's her!"

"I'm sure Tsubaki would be over-joyed to hear you say that."

_Never mind. I forgot. He doesn't say anything interesting._

_Until I actually saw._

* * *

><p>"Thanks," <em>she said as she swiped the morning attendance out of my hand. Her lush, thick caramel hair blew cold but graceful air into my face. I was dumbstruck. My jaw dropped. My eyes were saucers.<em>

"Yahoo! Dude! She totally just dissed you man!"

_This snapped me out of my dillemma momentarily._

"You idiot!" _I snapped. _"Did you even look, Black Star? That's _**MAKA!**_"

"What? No way. She's too hot!"

"Look, you stupid dork!" _I grabbed him by his freakin' blue spikes, and twisted his head to get a better look at the curvaceous figure confidently stepping into the middle of the room to take attendence._

_"_My name is Maka Albarn! Graduated top of my class, a three-star meister, creation of a death-scythe complete. Captured over four hundred Kishin eggs, and killed a dozen witches. I am your new co-instructor for combat technique! If you have any fears, any doubts about your training, get the hell out of here right now!"

_**Oh crap.**_


	2. Chapter 1

Thank you so much for all the reviews! I got 7 overnight! Not bad for my first fic with less than 500 words! I'm soo happy! Anyway, our story with the Soul Eater gang continues! You'll see more of everyone in this chap. And I kind of just made this chapter from scratch and didn't really plan it out, so forgive me if it's bad!

I don't own Soul Eater, and the usual spiel. But you don't care, unless you own Soul Eater, which I'm guessing you don't either. Don't we all wish for it, though?

Enjoy!

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><p>He took his time during the lunch break to walk over to the offices reserved for teachers. He was nervous as hell, but not because it intimidated him to be doing this. He was just so confused. He felt like he had a blindfold on and he had to feel his way around, or he'd step on a landmine and be blown to smitherines. Walking into the unknown, you'd call it.<p>

And it freaked the hell out of him.

He walked through the doors he remembered so vividly from getting sent to teachers during his school days. He spent his lunches in here when he got into trouble, and would eat alone. So not cool. Cool people don't eat alone. They have a possy.

At least, that's what he thought then. He was more mature now. He tried not to make any more mistakes. Despite not thinking it was cool, he hadn't tried to fix his attitude towards teachers. He didn't put in the effort, didn't care. Lord Death had seen good in his badboy self despite all that from seeing him fight, so when Soul came looking for a job at the only thing in his life he seemed to be able to succeed at, Lord Death had helped him.

Day after day, he had sat there, until Maka came and told the frustrated teacher watching him he had gotten in trouble with another teacher, and had to go see them immediately. They always believed the straight-A meister.

Maka.

God, the cause of the nerves inside of him.

Then he saw her. Lounging in a rolling chair behind a small desk. She wore some clothes that gave him a shot of nostalgia. It wasn't terribly similiar, though. She wore a plaid miniskirt that was quite familiar to him, and a creamy yellow sweater vest. However, she wore a white, collared, button-down, short-sleeved shirt underneath it. The first few buttons were undone, showing between the V-neck shape of her sweater vest. It teasingly showed some slightly tan skin below her collar bone. Her familiar pigtails had vanished, replaced by a ponytail that had long, lusciously wavy hair falling out of it. It came as a bit of a dissapointment to him. He sort of liked the kid-ish hairstyle he always teased her for. Black boots went halfway up her shins. They didn't sport the white "X"s Soul had come to know.

He hesitantly walked up to this beauty he now saw.

"Maka," he started.

She snapped her head to look up at him, making her full ponytail whip around. She flashed her intense eyes at him. As green as ever.

"Um..." His confidence slowly started slipping out of his grasp. No! He had to do this now! Dammit, how can I just get to the point?

"Why are you here?"

Damn! Too straight-forward! Plus, he sounded like a total jerk!

Her eyes narrowed further.

"I mean," he tried again, "I haven't seen you in a while. I didn't know you were back, much less _working _here."

Crap! That sounded worse!

Her petite, firm body stood from the chair, never breaking the fierce eye-contact. She had gotten taller, but so had he. He got a closer look at her face, which was covered with some light make-up. Stuff like eyeliner, gray stuff on her eyelids - which he thought Liz would call "smokey" - and some shiny junk on her lips, which he had to say made her lips look very full and womanly. And, was it him, or were her cheeks unnaturally pink? He was super clueless when it came to girl stuff. She took a step forward, getting a strong momentum.

"That was the point," she said as she passed his nerve-racked form, and bumped his shoulder. She continued walking until she was out of the room.

Soul sighed, releasing his tension. Jesus, if she wasn't difficult before, she sure was now. He was talking to wall. It was pointless.

His eyes wandered downward to her desk. A plaque was screwed to the side. _Miss Maka Albarn_ was carved into the metal. Soul's eyes dimmed.

"Guess she's not just a substitute."

* * *

><p>Soul then took his next free window of time(after school) to saunter off towards the library. Thankfully, Maka didn't teach today because of the paperwork every teacher had to go through with Lord Death before teaching, courtesy of Medusa. He did not look forward to the awkardness awaiting in the classes they would teach together. But clearly the awkward aspect of it was one-sided.<p>

He plopped his elbows onto the library desk, getting the attention of his long-time friend standing behind it.

"How's the job been treating you, Tsubaki?" Soul sighed kindly and politely due to tiredness.

The tall librarian turned to face him, placing a stack of checked in books on the counter. "Hello, Soul," she smiled brightly. It amazed him how cheerful she could be after a day at work. He always just assumed she loved what she did. "How are you holding up?"

"Alright," he replied. This was one person he could get right to the point with without feeling like he was putting his foot in his mouth. "Do you know why Maka's here? I mean, did you know she was coming here?"

Tsubaki's eyes darkened a bit. "Well, no."

Soul looked down. "Oh. I figured she would at least tell you. I guess I'm not that surprised."

They stood like that in silence for a while, then Tsubaki seemed to decide on something.

"Soul," she began, "It took me a while to get Maka to talk after she left. She had cut herself off for months. Then, a long time later, I got a short message on my phone saying that she wanted to meet up." She paused, biting her lip nervously. Soul listened intenly. "Just be pacient. She'll open up eventually. Maybe more quickly for you than me." With a polite, encouraging, slightly sad smile, Tsubaki took the books and left.

Soul watched her leave. "Thanks Tsubaki."

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><p>Soul rode his motorcycle home. He had wanted to get a car, but somehow he felt like his motorcycle was part of him. However, he did modify it slightly to make it a little more practical. It still got him places, and he could give a certain friend(Black Star) a ride home when they got too drunk at a bar.<p>

He arrived at his apartment, and immediately upon entering, the home phone started ringing. There was only one in the apartment, as Soul did not enjoy being interrupted in more than one room, therefore he could avoid being in it too much. That's why he was extremely aggravated to be disturbed already. He picked it up anyway, knowing how many calls he ignored and/or actually got.

It was Black Star.

"**Yahoo! My voice has graced your pathetic reciever!**" Surprise, surprise. He was already giving him a headache.

"How on Earth do you do that, Black Star?" Somehow, whenever Black Star wanted to make Soul's life miserable by calling, he knew exactly when Soul would arrive home. It's a rare and exceedingly annoying talent. "Do you stalk me?"

"**Hell no, man! You're way not interesting to the great me. I just know how long it takes you to drive home on that peice-of-crap bike. Sorry, man, but you never pick up your phone otherwise. You also shut off your cell the minute school lets out.**"

"There's a reason behind that, you ass," Soul sneered. He was so not in the mood for this. He grabbed some cold water out of the mini-fridge, slapped some Mio in there and started chugging. "You sound like Kid. Aren't you going out with Tsubaki tonight? Why are you talking to me?"

"**Yeah, I am. But I just wanted to ask you something.**"

Oh, Lord. Here it comes. Something idiotic that will plumet Soul's day into the dark pit of sucky-ness.

"**What are you planning to do about Maka?**"

What? Soul stopped downing his Mio-enhanced water and slumped onto the couch.

"**I mean, you weren't exactly acting like BFF's earlier. She's just... different, man. It's freaking me out. What should we do?**"

Soul thought hard about it for a while.

"I don't know, Black Star. I honestly don't know."

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><p>That's it for this one! Hope you liked it and whatnot. Next Chap. is Maka and Soul's first class teaching together. Fangirl gold will be included. XD 3 love you all!<p> 


	3. Chapter 2

I am so sorry for not updating sooner! I got a review telling me to go quicker, and from all the love you gave me in your reviews, I have to comply! :-) I appreciate so much all of the people out there reading and supporting my story. Thanks so much!

And I know you all want to know why Soul and Maka ended on bad terms. But if I told you that now, it wouldn't be any fun anymore ;-D Be pacient. I'm only planning to make this story about 10 chaps. long, since I don't think I could go much longer, this being my first story and all. Who knows, maybe if you encourage me enough with reviews, I'll continue it just a bit longer XD.

I do not own Soul Eater blah blah blah I'd be sued if I didn't say this blahblahblah.

Okay, on with the story!

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><p>Soul woke up with a bad feeling. A very bad feeling. Something was just not right with the world. He had spent a good three-quarters of his night grading pop quiz papers, and despite the fact Soul had put in the easiest questions possible that old students at the Academy would have prayed to get on a test, the grades were horrendous. Not one student in the class had gotten above a 74, except a certain student with a 100. He just didn't understand what was wrong. He taught the basics he had learned first, then moved on to more challenging things, - exactly the system his old teachers had used in his classes when he attended the DWMA. Sure, all the students enjoyed being in his class, but they just didn't get it.<p>

Soul dragged himself out of bed and got ready. He had now learned how to wake himself up on his own without an alarm clock or a hit to the face.

Wait, what was that? Soul had felt the bad feeling inside grow slightly. He ingnored it, but it was definitely bothering him.

* * *

><p>When he got to the school, he ran into the school's health teacher. "Oh, hey Soul," Liz said. Soul nodded back, acknowledging her half-hearted greeting with an even weaker one. He was tired. He wanted to crawl back into his bed pathetically and drown himself in sleep, but he had no idea why he was so exhausted. He had gotten in bed at a reasonable time, and had slept well. Undisturbed.<p>

"So," Liz said nonchalantly, "are you ready for your first class with Maka?"

_Oh, shit._

"I saw her earlier, but she left shortly after I started talking with her. She seemed in a hurry. Probably to put makeup on, since she clearly wasn't wearing any. She kind of looked like I remember again. Her new style is great on her, but it just doesn't fit what I always thought of her."

"Um, I-I have to go, Liz. See you later." Soul booked it to his office like a jack rabbit running from a wolf.

Liz looked after him with a furrowed brow. "Seems like no one feels like talking today."

* * *

><p>Soul slumped into his desk chair, totally freaked out. That's what was bothering him so much! He was definitely not comfortable with this. Luckily, they had scheduled classes, and only one together. There would be weapon classes, while the meisters took regular classes; then they switched, Soul having the meisters the rest of the day. There was one short class at the end of the day however, that combined both meisters and weapons to practice what they had learned seperately.<p>

That would be when Soul and Maka would teach together.

Soul had never agreed with the system of splitting meisters and weapons up like that. He firmly believed that being with your partner as much as you could was much better for a pair's resonance.

Although, he did kind of have to thank Maka. Usually his only break was lunch time because of the very few combat teachers they had at the school, and partners were required to have the same teacher. Now that they could teach together and have shifts, it would take a lot of pressure off of Soul. Soul would have the weapons first, while Maka assisted other combat teachers. Then they would switch, and Maka would teach the meisters. As it should be. They were both first-class of their categorie.

But this still wasn't good.

He had no freaking idea what to do. It was going to be intensely awkward. Of _course_ the students would notice. Rumors would fly like mosquitos in the summer for the general student body's entertainment. It would eventually reach the school board. He and Maka would be taken in for a lecture about relationships in the workplace. They would say things like, "We know human emotions can be very strong sometimes," and, "We hope you two will get along alright," and, "Just make sure this doesn't effect your work," and -

. . . But he was reading too far into this. He just had to relax, know that everything will be fine, and that he's just teaching another class. Because, in the end, that's all it will be, won't it?

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><p>It was the end of the morning classes, or for Soul, it was sort of the end of his shift. It would be his lunchbreak, and after that Maka would have all of his student's meisters, while he assisted the extra-curricular teachers in supervising the students. Soul had only passed Maka once in the hall when he ran an errand, although he was spared the awkwardness when Black Star came out of freaking nowhere, and started yelling at him about stealing his cellphone. Soul then had to explain to Black Star that he did not, in fact, steal his phone, and that Tsubaki would probably find it somewhere. Black Star did not believe him and kept going on, until Soul's cell rang. It was Tsubaki. For Black Star. His face got redder and redder as he heard how Tsubaki had found his cell in her purse, and didn't know how it got there, and how he could stop by the library anytime to pick it up. Black Star closed the phone when the conversation was done, gave it back to Soul, who was staring at him like, "I told you so." Black Star then screamed, "Let this be the last time you cross a god!" Soul didn't know what that meant, but assumed it was out of embarassment. Black Star scurried away, and Soul was left extremely annoyed but -<p>

- Maka was long gone by now.

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><p>He arrived in the classroom early. Maka was not there, thank some invisible force that wanted to give Soul a break. He hoped she would arrive late so he could be spared the torture of having to try and communicate with her. She'd just glare at him like a rare insect, he would say the wrong things, and it would just get worse.<p>

A few students had classes nearby and had gotten here early, but there were still a few groups filing in before a swarm came in, and Soul started to take attendance. Maka was still not there.

"Karin Shimazaki. . . Kai Suzuki. . . "

_Maka's not here._

"Mira Wakarai. . . Wakana Mori. . . Juri Harima"

And then there she was. She seemed to come and go like the wind now.

She walked straight to the middle of the classroom, next to Soul, but still standing with at least a foot of distance between them. Soul momentarily stopped roll-call, and looked cautiously over to her. She didn't even give him a glance. Just glared down her future students.

Soul started spouting out more names.

* * *

><p>The majority of the class passed by smoothly. Soul enjoyed the fact that they were kind of silently setting ground rules for teaching together. Maka's body language said everything. They were simple rules. Straight-forward. Very few. But they were to be followed.<p>

#1 - Do not touch me

#2 - Do not intentionally make eye-contact with me

#3 - Do not talk to me, unless it's for a student

#4 - Do not make jokes

#5 - Do _not_ disagree with me

Basically, the golden rule: Do not do anything you know will piss me off.

Soul followed these rules like they were the Ten Commandements. He did not, under any circumstances, want to piss Maka off. So far, he was succeeding in not going outside the borders or guidelines Maka had quietly established. It was kind of easy. It was like Maka's golden rule back when they were living together, only taken to an extreme.

It was all fine until one of the class' smart-asses wanted to be lazy. He raised his hand, and although Maka seemed to sense the bad-news aura around the kid, his hand was the only one up, and she had just asked "Any questions before we practice?" so she couldn't exactly ignore it. She nodded her head warily towards him. His hand dropped and he said, loud and clear "Can you just show us the move so we get an idea before we do this thing?"

Maka's eyes narrowed at the boy in annoyance, before she turned her glare on Soul. He gulped. You little ass! he thought, Everything was going fine!

Maka raised an eyebrow. She expected an answer. "Sure," Soul choked out from a dark place in his being. Was this what she wanted to hear? She was asking for his opinion on the subject, and he had answered. She furrowed her eyebrows again, and looked away from him. Here we go.

He took a chance and walked closer to her, faced the class, and shut his eyes. His body shone in a soft light as it broke apart and reformed as a scythe, spinning in mid-air. Maka's elegant fingers slid into the spin cycle, and out of nowhere gripped the handle of the Death Scythe firmly. Her eyes went wide. She choked on her air. Her knees buckled slightly.

_Maka. Are you okay?_

Huh? Soul could still talk to her? She looked down, slightly scared at the weapon she held. It was silent. No one talking in her head. She was imagining it. She grit her teeth, sweating unhealthy amounts of persperation. She tried to focus on the technique she was demonstrating and not the things around her. She raised the weapon, and tried to form words to explain how to do this correctly, but her mind and body couldn't handle it. She just hoped her students were paying attention enough.

Just then, her grip loosened, and the handle slid right down in her hand. She cried out in pain. She caught it, but it hit her lightly on the back of her thigh. "Naghn!" Maka weezed out. Her hand instinctively shoved the scythe away and into the air.

"Maka!" came a voice. Soul transformed out of a scythe, at the ready for any assistance Maka would need. Gasps were going around the classroom, but then, as Soul truned to help, he realized he was in the air. A few inches above the floor, still in free-fall. His momentum was taking him forward. He couldn't do anything except close his eyes and wait for impact.

That moment came earlier than he expected as he crashed into something before he felt cold wood floors beneath his fingertips. He opened his eyes and saw Maka beneath him, still getting her head straight from the unexpected fall. There was a collective gasp among the students, and all was quiet for a few seconds. Then the snickers started. The laughing. _The rumors._ This was exactly what Soul didn't want to happen.

Maka opened her eyes, slightly dizzy. Then she heard the noise, and looked to see what the heck had fallen on her. Soul. Staring at her with a "deer-in-the-headlights" sort of look.

Her face set into a deep red color, full of rage. Not embarrassment. Rage. At Soul. He slapped himself into action. "I'm sorry," he said, reaching for her, "I'll help -"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Maka screamed as she shoved him to the side. He hit his head on the wood of a desk, and he backed up against it in shock as Maka stood, and left the room. Left her students and fellow teacher confused and suprised.

After the slam of the door closing finished echoing around the room, the students looked at Soul, who was still on the floor up against a desk. He looked back at them with the same expression of befuddlement.

"Silent reading."

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><p>Whew! That was a long one! Again, I'm so sorry for not updating sooner. I had a busy summer. Hope this makes up for it. Now that school started, I'm slaving over my laptop by night for you all!<p>

BTW, I was wondering if you all want me to make this a rated M fic. My friend, Carmen Vega, also a writer, I'm her editor, says absolutely. I'm not sure though. I'm worried a lemon will ruin the over-all mood of the story for you guys. So I want your opinion. If I get 10 reviews in the next month, I'll do it. If not, no-can-do. And if you don't want lemons, that's cool. Review anyway. I love advice and questions! I also won't count your review, so don't worry. And don't be all sneaky and review twice. I won't count the second one(Yes, I will). You can review again if you reviewed before this notice came out. Work hard!

Also, the names "Wakana Mori and Juri are the names of my Japanese roomates I had at camp this summer. I'm facebook friends with both, and I wish them the best back home. Because of the fact that Juri's name was in kanji(Japanese lettering), I could not put in her last name. Have fun, both of you! Watch One Peice and Ouran HSHC for me. Buy manga, whatever. XD

All the best! Love is sent! XD


	4. Chapter 3

I am so sorry for not updating sooner! Thanks so much for all of the reviews, though! I can't believe I have so many! XD

I do not own Soul Eater blah blah blah I'd be sued if I didn't say this blahblahblah.

Okay, on with the story!

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><p>Thank god the class was finally done. Soul had spent the entire class with his students in complete silence after Maka had stormed out. Their first lesson and Maka didn't even want to breathe the same air as him. Good god, he needed to do something about this, and he needed to do it soon. Or maybe he just needed a drink.<p>

He slouched in his chair at the front of the classroom, and announced that everyone could stop their silent reading. "Hey, you can all go now. And remember to get your tests from my desk before you go!" Yelling kind of comes naturally when you become the teacher of a bunch of idiot teens.

They came up one by one, each of them nervous or completely indifferent, depending on what their attitude towards school was. Soul settled his head back on his chair and shut his eyes, trying to relax. The room faded into quiet as the students all scurried out.

"Excuse me. Mr. Evans?" trilled a firm but smooth voice. Soul slowly let his eyelids open to see one of his students, a short, pretty young thing who sported slightly too childish looks to be taken seriously with that determined expression on her face. It made her sharp but bright hazel eyes look like a joke, and the way it made the soft skin of her cheeks puff out gave her the look of a bratty child who didn't get their way. The way that she wore her light brown hair in two neat, precise low braids gave off the air of an innocent school girl - which was also something to laugh at due to her candor.

"I said you could call me Soul, Aiko." Soul wasn't in the mood to try and be nice to his students. He also knew that this particular girl wouldn't take offense to it. She was too mature, despite her girlish stature.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, sir." Her face stayed the same. "It wouldn't be appropriate with our current social standings. I also believe adressing me with less formality would be best for your proffession, but it's not my position to tell you what to do, sir. You may proceed as you wish."

Soul's face dropped as he stared back the stern face that marred her natural beauty. He pressed his fingertips to his forehead and sighed. "Fine. Did you possibly have a question, Aiko?"

"Yes sir, I did. More of a formal adressing of the situation." She took a strong breath, like she was about to say something real important, and she wanted everyone in a mile radius to pay attention and hold their breaths like she did, waiting in anticipation for what she was about to say. "I believe it would be a good idea for Force and I to recieve more missions."

Soul narrowed his eyes at her, marveling at what he was hearing. "Oka~y. How would you like to go about this? The openings for extra-curricular lessons are posted on the board. Take however many you like. Just stay on top of your work."

"It's not a matter of how many, sir, it's the issue of importance. Quality, not quantity. We want to be directly recruited for the Academy's more serious assignments. I decided to request that you recommend us to Lord Death personally."

Soul thought about it for a minute. He thought his silence and seemingly wavering opinion on the matter would force more attempts at trying to convince him out of Aiko, but she remained silent and still, staring hard down at him. He shouldn't have expected anything from her. She didn't meet expectations, she made her own. She was confident. She had layed her proposal down, straight up, simple and clean. She assumed - no, knew - she would get her way. Long silence.

"Fine. I'll put in a request." Soul breathed out, looking back down at some papers on his desk, pretending to do something. He didn't have to look to know Aiko's face was still the same.

"Thank you, sir." She then picked up her test, and walked to the door where her partner was waiting for her. She didn't have to see her grade to know that she was the only person in the class who had gotten the 100%.

Soul's eyes followed her, observing. He really had no doubt she could handle harder assignments. She had fantastic potential to become an amazing meister, and she had outstanding grades. It was the weapon he was worried about. Force, his class problem child. Mind you, Soul had no doubts about the strength of the boy's talents as a weapon. He was "strong like bull" as Russians used to say when Soul had traveled to that God-forsaken freeze-your-ass-off-for-fun place a long time ago when he was still a student. But his grades, that was a different story. They were horrendous, with the terrible combination of the fact that he didn't give a damn.

As Aiko walked over, Force spoke to her from his position of leaning against the doorframe. "Hey, what took you so long?"

Aiko's epression of determination twisted into anger, positively spoiling her cute face as she sped up her walk and slammed her notebook across his head, screaming at him. "_You_ were the one who went to the bathroom at the beginning of class and didn't come back until now!" Her face then made an incredible transformation. Every muscle in her face softened at an alarming rate into an expression of concern, pleading, and thoughtfulness. "Your grades aren't doing well. At this rate, we'll never become stronger as a team. You won't be able to become a Death Scythe."

The boy was taken aback a bit at this. He pushed thick, long, jet black bangs behind his ears to reveal crystal clear blue eyes. The gesture proved futile as the hair swung back over his eyes. His body language completely changed, and he seemed uncomfortable, bashful, and apologetic, all at the same time. After a bit of silence, he spoke up. "Hey, don't look like that. It's not attractive." His tone clearly stated that he did not believe this to be true. He was just trying to give a sort of normalcy to the awkward situation. "I promise I'll study for the next one, 'kay? Now can we go home and get some dinner? I'm starving!"

Aiko paused for a second, and then a gorgeous smile graced her features. "Okay! Come on!"

Aiko brushed past a shocked Force, going off on a complex explanation of chores that needed tending and food that needed making. Force was still standing in the doorway, paralyzed by the previous occurance. Once it finally registered with him, the tips of his ears turned red. He clenched his fists in an attempt to gather strength for something.

I've been there. Soul thought. It's okay, she feels the same. Go on.

Force's teeth ground against each other.

Go on.

An expression of pain and inner struggle passed across his face.

You can do it.

Jaw went tighter. Fists curled harder. He breathed inward.

_Tell her._

He walked sadly away.

Soul didn't watch any more. He sighed strongly, and the sound echoed throughout the empty room. Soul then realized just how hopeful he had been for the boy. That the kid would finally work up the courage to tell the girl he liked that he'd had a crush on her ever since they had become partners in the battle against the Kishin. But the part of this that scared him the most was how much that girl reminded him of Maka. And how much that boy resembled him - in more ways than one. Soul needed to breathe, to think, to . . .

Oh, screw it. he thought. He grabbed up his papers, locked up the classroom, and headed to the faculty office. As he walked down the hall, he thought about Aiko and Force. He would recommend them for more serious missions, and he decided that he really didn't care about the kid's failing grades. Had he _himself_ ever given a damn about them? He would just take all of Aiko's extra credit work and put it into Force's grade. It's not like she needed it.

Honestly, he was such a softie when it came to his kids.

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><p>God that was too short! I honestly didn't plan for this chapter to be all about Soul's student, but I kind of like it cut off there, and I also need to figure out a few more details about the future plans before I write anymore. Again, I'm so sorry for not updating sooner. I just finished a show, I'm in one now, and I just started a third, so please forgive me!<p>

Also, about Force's name, have you ever noticed that Soul was supposed to be kind of like Maka's Dad, so his name is Spirit, and Soul is Soul. It kind of has that sort of "spiritual" theme goin' on, so I actually looked up "soul" and "spirit" on . The only feesible one that could pass for a name was "force," which was actually a word coming from "spirit," so I took that one. Just in case you were wondering. :3

BTW, I have decided **not** to change the rating, thanks to some helpful advice given by reviewers. It would totally ruin the mood, and I would get all emo with it, so, no. Speaking of awesome reviews, give me moooooore! You really inspire me to write more. Without you, I'd probably get bored with this story, and you don't want that, do you?

Also, the names Wakana Mori and Juri(cousins) used in the last chapter are the names of my Japanese roomates I had at camp this summer. I'm facebook friends with both, and I wish them the best back home. Because of the fact that Juri's name was in kanji(Japanese lettering) on Facebook, I could not put in her last name. Have fun, both of you! Watch One Peice and Ouran HSHC for me. Buy manga, or whatever. You get new releases before me, darn you! XD

All the best! Love is sent! XD


	5. Chapter 4

This chapter came out so much sooner than I thought. I'm so happy!

I think it kind of turned out crappy, so sorry. I promise I'll write the next chapter soon!

I do not own Soul Eater blah blah blah I'd be sued if I didn't say this blahblahblah.

Okay, on with the story!

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><p>Soul sat down in the faculty room at his desk, searching the school database. All teachers get access to it in case they need to contact a parent or another teacher.<p>

"A, A, A, A, A," Soul repeated over and over to himself. He scrolled down the list of teachers. The system was pretty good here, but he wondered if they would get someone so new in here already. "Allllllll..." he breathed out quietly. "Albarn! Cool." Soul whispered. He scrolled through the info listed on the screen.

**Maka Albarn**

**Age: 25**

**Birthday: April 12, 1986**

**Occupation: Combat teacher**

**Placement Category: Meister**

**Level: Three Stars**

**Student at Academy 2000-2003. Graduated early on request with honors. Creation of Death Scythe: Complete. Went on to travel to various parts of the world to capture Kishin eggs and complete miscellanious assignments for Lord Death. **

**Assignment Record:**

**Guatemala 2iK786YhJ#**

**Argentina 9KlOpD48sE#**

**Saudi Arabia H85Jcid73s#**

**Cambodia HdW60kDs#**

**Portugal 2Hid84hiBl#**

**Russia(A) 63jIn55K#**

**China 8Hdssli25g#**

**Panama iFH761hx#**

**Canada 80shWiN2#**

**Seychelles Hm3spY900#**

**Leichtenstien 85hSua1q65#**

**Chad 9Hd5rj5sj#**

**South Africa 9fhS73jD1#**

... The list went on and on. As Soul scrolled through the list of the seemingly endless amount of countries in the world, his insides felt sickly. It was almost every country the world had ever known, and she had gone to all of them, each assignment marked "#," the symbol for complete. Soul didn't have a great idea of what every letter or number in the assignment codes meant, but he could see that more than twenty of them had "d," the marking for an assignment that was considered deadly. Soul wasn't really looking intentionally for this, though. He scrolled even further down to the contact information.

**Phone Contact: Not Available**

**Email Contact: Not Available**

**Current Address: 69 MoonPhase Alley**

Soul knew where that was. He ran out of the room and speed-walked out of the Academy. As he walked to the parking lot down that ridiculous flight of stairs, he thought back to the extensive list of countries Maka had visited. The last entry on the list of her assignments had frightened him. The last place she had gone before she had been hired at the Academy.

**India 9hEHi48D#**

Soul knew what each of the symbols for that one meant. Translated, it said **Southern Hemisphere-Hindi-English(official language)-Hindu(official religion)-interception of religious attack-_high danger_: Complete.**

It bothered Soul a lot. What the hell kind of assignments had she been doing that she was intercepting religious attacks? Kishin Eggs were only involved in those kinds of situations in extremely specific conditions. It was unsettling.

He got to his bike, took out his keys, jabbed them into the slot, and fired up the engine. He hopped on, sans helmet, and sped off with the pedal pushed as far as it would go. The whole ride, he couldn't stop thinking about all of those missions. There were so many questions that surrounded them. What did she do there? Did she have to learn all of those languages? Had she worked with other meisters or Death Scythes? More importantly, did she have another partner?

Well, he thought, I'll just have to ask her myself.

* * *

><p>GAH! Too short! And OMG did it suuuuuuck. Please tell me it didn't by reviewing! Love ya!<p>

Also, about Force's name in the last chapter, have you ever noticed that Soul was supposed to be kind of like Maka's Dad, so his name is Spirit, and Soul is Soul. It kind of has that sort of "spiritual" theme goin' on, so I actually looked up "soul" and "spirit" on . The only feesible one that could pass for a name was "force," which was actually a word coming from "spirit," so I took that one. Just in case you were wondering. :3

BTW, I have decided **not** to change the rating, thanks to some helpful advice given by reviewers. It would totally ruin the mood, and I would get all emo with it, so, no. Speaking of awesome reviews, give me moooooore! You really inspire me to write more. Without you, I'd probably get bored with this story, and you don't want that, do you?

All the best! Love is sent! XD


	6. Chapter 5

Woohoo! I met the deadline!

I made this one longer for you all so you don't hate me. For info on upcoming chapters, visit my profile. I'll be updating it more regularly now, so if you like my stuff, you can find out about news in my fanfic world.

I do not own Soul Eater blah blah blah I'd be sued if I didn't say this blahblahblah.

Chapter commence!

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><p><em>"Hey, Maka." Koria greeted her.<em>

_"Hi." Maka gave back, not being unnecessarily familiar, but not trying to be rude to her colleague._

_Koria smiled. "As unsocial as ever, I see." She started walking. "Loosen up. We have strategies to plan, and a short amount of time in which to do it."_

_Maka started to stride along with Koria as the chopper that had just dropped her off began to start up again, making her clothes and the hair in her ponytail snap painfully against her skin. "That's exactly why I won't relax."_

_"Well, it's good to work with you again, anyhow. We're the only females here, by the way, so be careful."_

_Maka looked sideways at Koria. "I can handle myself."_

_"Oh, I know." Koria smirked, "They don't hire us girls on these kinds of missions if we can't. I'm just saying be careful with all the 'players' around here. You wouldn't want to lose your heart to someone other than your _ser_, would you?"_

_Maka scoffed and looked ahead of herself at her awaiting base camp. "You know as well as I do where I stand on that crap."_

_"Hm, yes. I guess I do." She looked away. "Anyway, this will be a quick, in-and-out type deal. After we successfully complete the mission, you'll be relocated as quickly as possible to another country, and wait for orders on your next mission."_

_"After we succeed, huh?" Maka smirked. "As ambitious and cocky as ever, Koria."_

_Koria showed a thin line of her teeth slyly. "I could say the same thing to you, Maka."_

_"I really don't care about the speed of the mission anyway," Maka said, "I'm just glad to be in a place where I can speak goddamn English again."_

_Koria laughed. "I wouldn't know the feeling. My language only exists and prospers in one country."_

_Maka turned to Koria, and smiled a very small, very kind smile. "True."_

The doorbell rang.

She certainly wasn't expecting it. No one knew where she lived. None of the neighbors seemed to give a damn that someone new had moved in nextdoor, so it couldn't be them. She checked the clock on the house's thermostat that hung on the wall. 6:48. Almost 7:00.

Maka looked at the hallway leading to the front door. Her senses were on alert now.

Who the hell . . . she thought. She kept her hand rigid against her thigh. She walked slowly down the hallway to the door. Damn it, she thought as she looked at the door, There's no peephole. She gritted her teeth, grabbing the doorknob. The fingers at her thigh twitched.

She threw the door open, and froze.

Soul was outside the door, looking like he was about to walk away. He turned back as he heard the door open. Maka's hand relaxed only slightly.

"Maka . . ." he said, standing there awkwardly. "Hi." She nudged her heel backwards into the hall as he took a step forward. He stopped. She didn't reply. "Maka? Hey, are you okay? You look really pale."

"I'm fine." she snapped back, taking her hand away from her skirt hem. "Go home." She didn't feel the need to ask him why he had come to her house in the first place. It clearly wasn't important, seeing as how he only planned on staying after he rang the doorbell once. She just wanted him out. 0

"Maka, wait." Soul said firmly, going quickly up to the door and placing his hands on either side of the frame. She turned back, glaring at him. "If we're going to teach together, it can't be like this. You don't want me to touch you in any way." Maka just pulled her lips together, refusing to answer him. She didn't realize until then that she was shaking. Soul stared at her, and then he said gently and carefully, "You look so scared."

He reached up to gently skim the side of her arm with his fingertips.

She gasped and flew back, grabbed the door and tried to shut it. Soul caught it with a hand, giving him a foot of space to talk to her through. They fought against each other, Soul desperately yelling her name to calm her down, and Maka trying with everything she had to get him to leave. Out of her new life. Out of her mind.

"Maka! MAKA! MAKA! _Maka, I won't do it again_!" he screamed. Maka froze and looked up at him, her eyes wide with shock, and fear dancing off her pupils in the light. The pain and guilt in his face wrapped around her heart and squeezed. "I promise." he breathed out.

She panicked. This wasn't good. This couldn't be happening. She had worked so hard to avoid it. Everything for nothing! What could she do?

Her pupils dialated.

Adrenaline kicked in.

"CHORO MUJHE!"

Soul stared down at her, shaking in the doorway, her eyes screwed shut. Then they flew open in shock. She gritted her teeth, looking like she was holding back tears, her face flushed. She seemed to have realized what she had just said.

"Just - Just go away, Soul," she said quietly. The door closed.

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><p>He was too shocked to stop her. He let the door slip from his grasp as she pulled it closed. He stood looking at the door for a while, thinking about Maka.<p>

She was about to cry just then. She looked like an abused child, bracing themself for a strike. It hurt him to see that. It was his fault. And what she had screamed at him. It was old Hindi dialect.

What the hell happened to her on that mission?

Soul barely slept that night, but he came to the school the next day. He was suprised to see that Maka actually came to teach as well, but in a way, he wasn't. She had never been one to skip her job entirely just because of some personal issues.

It was still early in the school day, so Soul was helping a few different teachers out in their classes, bouncing from room to room. He walked into the next one down the hall, and upon entering, saw a familiar face.

"Soul! Hiiii!" Patty squealed, waving childishly at him. She turned back to her class briefly. "Grab some paper and some yellow crayons from the back, 'kay?" She smiled giddily. She got up from her desk chair and bounced over to Soul who walked towards her as well.

It really was nice to see Patty again. It had been a while, and it was always a stress relief when the school's art teacher was around.

"Need any help?" Soul inquired calmly and naturally.

"Nope!" Patty giggled, "This is something I'm real good at!" She turned excitedly towards the students holding their crayons and paper. "Everyone! Today we're making paper giraffes! You can make it however you want now, as long as it's cute!"

Soul sighed knowingly. Of course. Giraffes. How did he not realize?

He turned to leave, saying bye to Patty, but she stopped him. "Hey, wait." He turned back. She smiled at him. Not childishly, though. A polite, kind smile. "You know you were the one who inspired me to make my first paper giraffe, right?"

Soul just looked at her strange. "Uh, thanks. I guess."

Patty laughed. "What I'm saying is, you have more influence over people than you think. Especially if you truly believe in what you do. Just try your best with Maka. I know her. And I know you. Trust yourself."

Soul relaxed slightly. It really was a stress relief to be around her. "Thanks, Patty."

Suddenly, Patty's face morphed into an evil sort of grin, as she reached for Soul's neck and grasped it tightly in her fist. "But my advice doesn't come free, y'know!" She slammed Soul cheek-down on the teacher's desk as she announced proudly to the class, "Now I'm going to give you an example of the perfect giraffe neck!" She then proceeded to pull painfully hard on the back of his shirt, making him stretch his neck to impossible lengths.

The class cried with laughter as they watched their combat teacher get abused by the art teacher. "LONGER!" Patty growled as Soul howled in pain.

"Patty, I swear to - OW! Patty, stop! Please! Pattyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

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><p>Soul stood in front of Maka after school. She stared back at him, her face expressionless. He couldn't tell if she truly didn't care or if she was just in shock.<p>

"I'm sorry." he said. He knew Maka so well, he could tell when she wanted him to say more.

She was asking, About what?

"About everything." he answered. "I just really want this job to work out. For both of us. I was thinking maybe we could figure out some plans for future lessons."

Maka continued to glare at him in silence for a while before she turned and walked to the door. Soul watched her go wondering what the hell it meant. Was she just fed up with his crap? Was she silently telling him to come with her?

She stopped a few feet away, and turned around. She didn't smile. She didn't scowl.

"Drive me home." she said. "I live kind of far."

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><p>Yay, I'm still so happy I got this chapter done before the deadline! Check my profile for upcoming chapter info. Review please!<p>

All the best! Love is sent! XD


	7. Chapter 6

Woohoo! I made the deadline again! I seriously thought I wasn't going to make it this time. I wrote out like, half of the chapter in my note book, tore out the first four pages, and then lost the rest, so I had to try and replicate it from memory. That's why I hate writing my chapters out first. Typing is soooo much easier.

OMG, this chapter was super long! Happiness! For info on upcoming chapters, visit my profile. You can also get information on stories I'm thinking of writing, and you can help me decide which ones to publish, so help me by visiting the profile!

I don' own a damn thang!

In this chapter, things finally start getting mushy for you fangirls out there. I don't like extra cheese on my stories, so I try my best to keep it light. But sometimes stuff has to slip out. Plus, writing an extra fruity-licious chapter during your period does not help.

I will also be leaving for two and a half weeks for a Christmas trip to Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, so you won't be getting some chapters until a while after I get back. Thailand only has Internet cafes for me to use, and even then, a very limited amount of time in which to use it, so I will only be updating my profile, and not my chapters. I'm really sorry, but it was not my choice to go. This chapter is my present to all of you before I leave in a week on the 20th. Byebye!

Merry Xmas! From: Me Too: You

* * *

><p>He didn't talk with Maka on the ride to her house. It's not like he could have anyway; it was way too loud. A windy night in Death City. Maka rode like she had back when thay were students. No helmet. On the back. The only thing different was that she wouldn't hold onto his waist for security. It bothered him slightly, but he would have to give her time and space before she felt comfortable enough around him to make contact.<p>

Maka unlocked her front door when they eventually arrived at her house, and opened it to walk in. Soul bowed his head and entered after her. She led him down a short little front hallway, connecting to a small kitchen. It was a frightening sight to see how little furniture her house contained. The kitchen had only the bare essentials for living. Fridge, stove, oven, a tiny microwave, sink, cupboards, and a small table surrounded by three chairs. Maka turned to look at him blankly.

"Anything to drink?" she asked.

"Uh, no thanks," he answered. He doubted she had much anyway. She probably hadn't gone shopping for food since she had moved in. How long had she lived here before school had started? A few days?

Maka nodded her head, and quietly sat down. Soul politely followed suit, pulling out a chair for himself and placing himself in it. It wasn't exactly an intimate or even a friendly atmosphere, but they were closer than they had been in years, both physically and emotionally, and for Soul, that was enough for him right now.

"So, Maka started, "we're going to make plans for classes?"

"Uh, yes." Soul proceeded to inform Maka about the Academy's new system. When he touched on certain details about meisters and weapons being seperated, Maka winced. She seemed to dislike the thought of it just as much as Soul did.

"Because of this, the meisters don't understand where the weapons are approaching all of the lessons from, and vica-verca, creating a push and pull learning process."

"Unproductive," Maka confirmed.

They continued talking about other problems coming up in classes, brainstorming solutions, and deciding on activities they would include in tomorrow's lesson and focus on until they had a clearer plan.

Soul's phone alarm filled the small, empty room. It was a notification Soul set on his cell to notify him that by a certain time, if he hadn't corrected his student's papers by then, he'd better start now.

"Ah, sorry," Soul apologized, taking out his phone and turning it off. "I need to get home. Got some quizzes to correct. But, uh, do you want to do this again tomorrow? I can give you a ride home."

"Yeah. Sure."

"Cool." Soul let out a relaxed, happy smile. He had gotten Maka to open up. Not much, but she was talking to him of her own free will now. She was starting conversations. She was letting him come over her house. She wanted him to drive her home every day. Soul swore he could cry.

To be honest, he had always really liked Maka. Quite a lot actually. Being partners when they were young had just never allowed it to become anything more. Not that the two of them living together didn't provide for a few close calls. How many times had he come so close to kissing her, or touching her in a more-than-just-my-partner kind of way. He really wasn't sure back then wether it was just his hormones raging on him, or if he truly had feelings for her. It had required so much of his self-control whenever he was around her.

And now they were adults. He could kiss her. He could touch her. But he wouldn't. For Maka's sake. And for their jobs at the Academy, but that was a seemingly non-existent roadblock, as Maka's feelings far outweighed it.

He left that night as a chill coated the outside air. The weather changed overnight to be a chilly morning the next day. He drove Maka home all the same. Though, not without giving her his jacket to wear first. Their class that day had gone incredibly well. It seemed like hundreds of lightbulbs had suddenly lit up in every single one of their student's heads. Maka led him into her house yet again, but this time she brought him into the living room, saying it was too cold to be sitting in the kitchen. Her living room held only a coffee table, a TV, and a radio that sat in the corner. There was no couch. Not even tables for the TV and radio to sit on. She had clearly _just_ moved in. She sat down by the coffee table where she had set up paper and pencils and other materials they would need for planning lessons. He sat down beside her, ready to start. As he reached for a few materials though, Maka stopped him.

"Wait," she said. He looked at her. She seemed . . . fidgety. Like she really wanted to say something, but her conscience was advising her to do otherwise. "Um, I was wondering," she kept on. Even though she showed discomfort, she did not stutter. Just like Maka to be perfectly articulate in any situation. "How is . . . everyone?"

Ah, so that's what this was about. Soul turned to her smiling.

"Ask them yourself." She looked at him in confusion. "They work at the Academy now too."

Maka's face lit up in realization. "Really?"

Soul grinned softly. "Yup."

"So that was Liz I saw in the hall the other day? The really tall woman who wears all of those designer, lady-buisiness suits?"

"Yeah," he laughed. "I know their room numbers if you want to go see them."

Her eyes flashed with a burst of what Soul knew was pure joy. He was grabbing a peice of paper and a pen before she even said yes.

As she neatly folded and handled the paper like a mother would hold her child, Soul was suddenly hit with the rememberance of why he loved Maka. She was such a mix of all sorts of emotions, it was hard for anyone to follow her advanced thought process or patterns of feelings. She was so rough, independent, smart, and strong by herself, that it's moments like these where you're shocked by seeing such a warm and loving expression on her face. One that is simply for a single little slip of paper that represents the ticket to her getting to see freinds that she hasn't seen in years. Freinds she loved, but left because she couldn't stand being here anymore, because she was shocked into abandoning the closest freinds she had since she was born. The thought that someone could hold onto a life they had for so long for almost half of their life, was incredible. Inspiring. At least to him, she was perfect. She deserved everything, and more. Certainly more than himself.

She tucked away the paper, turned towards the table, and the beautiful expression was gone. He shook off his inner thoughts, and got to work along with her. After almost two hours of planning, they had scheduled every lesson they would teach for the next week and a half. Believing they were getting far too ahead of themselves, they stopped, and began to clean up their mess of papers and textbooks.

"So," Maka voiced in her open living room of quiet, "I don't assume Blair is working at the Academy as well?"

Blair was always a touchy subject, so Soul wasn't really sure how to react to this question. Her voice also didn't give away her feelings, if any, that she had. He decided to simply answer her question.

"Blair is actually doing good. After . . . uh, before we all graduated, Blair went back to school. She quit her job at Chupa Cabra's, threw on some clothes, and got a bachelor's degree in buisiness. She then became the secretary to a big CEO of this company downtown. Not too suprisingly, she married the CEO about a year later. I beleive they have a baby on the way now also. Six months from now, I think."

I think even that got Maka to stand still. Her brain had to process it for a minute. She blinked. That must be the part about her marrying her boss, thought Soul, Easier to handle. And then she continued to be frozen. After a bit she finally said, "Wow," and then kept picking up pens.

They finished, placing all of the supplies in neat, organized piles on her table.

"Soul," Maka said quietly. Soul believed he was saved from having to sit in an awkward silence with her until he had to leave.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I think . . . I can trust you."

Soul stopped dead. She stared up at him with glowing eyes. They showed no contempt like they had last week, and that's what made Soul want to kill himself. He didn't deserve to be trusted. He wanted to be trusted by her so badly, honest to God, he did, but he knew he didn't deserve it. "I trusted you once before with my life, and I can do it again."

Yes, Soul thought, you trusted me. And look at where we are now.

"If you trust me, then tell me this," he said calmly, staring into her eyes. He firmly believed he was about to get sucked into them. They just looked so deep. The feeling from when they were young, when he had wanted to kiss her, returned. His reflex to fight that urge kicked in, and he leaned back from her slightly, just to catch his breath. She looked at him expectantly. "Why were you so afraid to touch me? Or that I was going to touch you? When you dropped me in that class, what happened?" There were so many other questions he wanted to ask her. Mostly about her missions, but he figured that might be too much right now, so he left it at that. This particular question didn't seem to stress her out or upset her. She quietly looked into her lap, looking more like she was afraid of upsetting Soul.

"Soul," she whispered, "our resonances don't match anymore. I can't touch you. It burns my skin, and it makes my soul go haywire. I don't know what happened. But I can't use you. We can't fight together anymore, Soul. I'm sorry."

A tense silence passed. Maka was so unsure of what his reaction would be, it scared her. Not knowing what was going to happen next was her biggest fear.

"Maka." She looked at Soul. She was suprised to see that he wasn't upset or angry, but he was smiling. Not the cocky smirk she remembered from their youth, but a kind smile. He looked like . . . a man. Just a nice guy that was trying to help her.

He lifted a hand slowly. He smiled further when Maka simply sat there, staring entrancedly at Soul, unafraid of his hands coming towards her face. He brushed the back of his hand over her amazingly soft skin. It felt like silk under his touch. He had touched her.

She opened her eyes slightly wider. Soul's whole body began to glow. It shifted, and rearranged itself into the form of a Death Scythe. It landed neatly in Maka's lap, as she held it gently in her palms. There was no burning. No confusion. No pain. There was just the sensation of smooth, cool metal against her skin.

She held her weapon up towards her, and rested her forehead against it, once again putting her life in his hands. Maka could hear Soul's voice, and this time, it sounded closer to her than she had ever heard it.

_Maka. You will never be hurt again. I'll make sure of that. _

Soul's phone went off.

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><p>Yes, that is the end of the chapter. That's going to be a common thing from now on, so pay attention to it!<p>

K, so you know that episode where Stein had Maka and Soul yell at each other with candles in the room? And then their resonance was off and Maka got burned when she held Soul? Yeah, that was the same thing. And also, that thing in the last chapter where Maka spoke in Hindi? That's from the show I'm in now. It's one of my lines. I'm playing Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden, and there's a part where I throw a tantrum and curse someone in Hindi. It roughly translates to "Leave me alone." So yeah, there you go.

Check my profile for upcoming chapter info, and upcoming stories where you can help me decide on which one I'm publishing next. Review please!

All the best! Love is sent! XD


	8. Chapter 7

**PLEASE, DEAR GOD, READ THIS -**

**This chapter may feature some details that are disturbing to some readers. If you are really only interested in the Soul and Maka storyline, and would not like  
>the details of Maka's violent and a bit graphic missions, I would advise you to skip over everything written in italics. i.e. :<strong> _The God of Death likes apples_.** I promise you will not be missing any major plot lines by not reading this section of the chapter. For those of you who are interested in finding out what happens with Maka and Soul, I left you a present after the italics.**

**This chapter also does not reflect any personal views on any country or culture. All events are purely fictional, and any relation to actual events is purely coincidence. This takes place in a fictionalized version of the world.**

**I really did try my best to not make this so depressing, but I have a calculating, cold side to me that tends to come out a lot in my writing. I truly tried my best to hold myself back. I was going to make Koria pregnant orginally, but that would be - oh, you'll see if you read the italics.**

**Anyway, I'm so sorry I've not written anything for so long. I got back from my trip, I got sick, I started rehearsals for shows, I had auditions for new shows . . . It's just been crazy. I'm really sorry. I'm trying to get another chapter out before my show finishes in February, so stay tuned and visit my profile for upcoming chapter release dates.**

**Oh, by the by, a few chapters ago, when Maka was like, flash-backing to when she was with Koria, there was a line Koria said about Maka not wanting to lose her heart to anyone but her "ser." FYI, Koria is supposed to be Armenian, and in Armenian, "ser" means "love." So . . . yeah. Think you can figure that one out.**

**I don't own any character or titles.**

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><p>He could feel it. The gap between them closing. It was unsettling to say the least.<p>

He and Maka had been continuing their private teacher meetings regularly. Almost every single day. They were so close to each other, and yet, there was something really off. And Soul was sure it was the fact that they were almost _too_ close. Too close to being like they had been back when they were partners.

Soul personally was aiming for this, but in the back of his head, he knew it would never be like that. Their relationship would forever be shaped by what had happened. And honestly, if it scared Maka too much he'd rather not change a thing. He would be fine keeping his distance from her as long as he could just _be_ with her.

And he knew Maka could feel it too. That emotional barrier collapsing. He could feel that she didn't want to be close to him. And she hadn't really been subtle either.

Earlier, Soul had mentioned after a class that he wouldn't be able to go to her house that night because of plans he had made with Black Star a while ago, but that he could still drive her home. She responded with a short bit of silence containing a slightly hidden exhale, and then her saying, "Yeah."

Not, "That's fine," or, "Sure," but just, "Yeah." Like she was never really agreeing or accepting his statement.

After all, Maka did really want a night off from being around Soul. His personality change had shocked her to say the least, but she never expected to like it. He was so . . . nice. Comfortable to be around. He laughed with her, not _at_ her like when they were students - even if back then it was just a cover-up for adolescent awkwardness.

She needed to get away from him. She needed to stop liking him so much. She needed to go out with Tsubaki, or Liz, or Patty. She needed to start liking her best friends as much as she liked Soul now.

"Yeah." She had thought, That would be best.

* * *

><p>Maka waited as the synthesized sound of a phone ringing played in her ear. She was in her house, calling up Tsubaki on the cellphone she had bought two days ago. It was kind of cheap and crappy, but it got the job done. She heard a click and a sweet little, "Hello?" come from the other line as Tsubaki picked up.<p>

"Hey, Tsubaki? It's me." Maka had to smile in spite of herself when she spoke. It had been forever since she had done something like this.

"Oh! Hi Maka!" Maka wasn't surprised by the slight pause there was before Tsubaki realized it was actually her calling. "How are you tonight?" Tsubaki asked.

"Great, great," Maka replied. "Hey, um, Tsubaki, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight. Maybe go shopping at the mall. I kind of need to pick up some stuff."

Again, some silence. "Of course, Maka! I'll pick you up in fifteen minutes!"

"Thanks, Tsubaki."

* * *

><p>Black Star threw the basketball to Soul, who caught it with ease. Soul ignored the fact that it could have almost knocked him out if it had come any closer to his head.<p>

"God dammit, Soul!" Black Star yelled in anger. "I was trying to wake you up! Snap out of it, dude!"

"Wha?" Soul responded, looking at Black Star. Black Star just growled at him about ignoring a god.

Kid walked over to Soul, his designer sneakers squeaking on the gym floor. It was way too cold now to play outside anymore, so they had gotten together at an indoor court. Kid took the ball calmly from Soul's hands. "I'm afraid you're quite distracted, Soul."

Whatever Kid was about to explain in a civilized manor to Soul was cut off by Black Star yelling, "Yeah, 'cause he's thinking about Maka!"

Soul's ears perked up a bit at this. "How did you know about that?"

Black Star's face contorted into a sneer of idiocy. "Uh, DUH! How do you think! What, you thought you were invisible when you have her hop on the back of your bike after every school day?"

Yeah, Soul guessed he probably should have thought that one through.

"And how did we know about _what_, exactly? What _are_ you guys doing together? Last time I checked, she hasn't spoken to you or any of us in almost ten years!"

Kid shot Black Star a look at this. One of the looks Tsubaki had taught everyone that she said would shut him up no matter what. And that's just what it did. Black Star gulped his nerves down, and then crossed his arms like a kid in a time-out.

Kid turned back to Soul. "I have no problems with it, Soul, if that's you're major concern," Kid said. "But if another teacher that's not necessarily . . . one of us," Kid gestured to Black Star with his head and also silently suggested Liz, Tsubaki, or Patty, "brings in a complaint to me, I can't ignore it. I hope you understand."

"Yeah," Soul replied, seriously taking it into account.

Black Star had taken to pouting now. "Dammit!" he whined. "It's totally messing up my schedule!"

Ah, yes, Soul thought, That's right. Black Star hasn't been able to catch me coming in my house and call me every day. Maybe this whole thing was working in my favor.

"The students are talking as well," Kid continued, "and it's not some things that I think you would enjoy hearing, Soul. I'm just saying, I would advise you - if things do get serious between the two of you - to be very careful. I'm not telling you you can't have a relationship, but I wouldn't suggest a public one either."

Soul sighed through his nose and took back the basketball from Kid. "Relax, guys. I highly doubt this 'relationship' is going anywhere fast."

Soul shot the ball from the three-point line.

He missed.

* * *

><p>"I'm really thankful for the ride here, Tsubaki. You really didn't have to do that." Maka sat across from Tsubaki in the large shopping mall's food court. They had gotten everything Maka had needed, and decided to stop and get some food.<p>

"Oh, please," Tsubaki laughed, "it's the least I could do. How would you have gotten here anyway?"

"I could have taken a taxi."

"Why should you waste money on that when I'm perfectly able to drive you? Really, it was my pleasure!"

Maka smiled. Then she looked down at the empty space on the table in front of her. Suddenly, she looked up.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Tsubaki just stared back in surprise. "What for?" she asked worriedly.

Maka looked down again and closed her eyes. "For being gone for so long. For not calling. For trying to practically drown myself in killing on my missions feeling sorry for myself."

"It wasn't your fault." Tsubaki smiled.

Maka opened her eyes. She slowly looked back at Tsubaki. "It wasn't Soul's fault either."

"I know." She kept smiling.

Maka stared silently at Tsubaki for a while, then cracked up laughing.

"What is it?" Tsubaki asked.

Maka breathed, calming her fit of laughter. "You're so freaking nice, Tsubaki. I guess I'm just a little out-of-order right now. I just feel like I should be back at my house with - " Maka stopped cold.

Tsubaki had been taking a sip of her drink, but she stopped and asked Maka to repeat herself.

"I feel like I should be at home," Maka said.

She didn't talk much more after that.

* * *

><p>Clock ticking could be heard throughout the apartment. The clock had only just hit 10:00. A knock came at the door.<p>

"Hey, Maka? You there? It's Soul."

Silence flooded the apartment again.

"Maka? It's Soul. I left my laptop here the other night, I was hoping to grab it."

Silence.

"Maka?"

Deafening silence.

The knob of the door turned, and the front entrance opened. Soul walked in, highly on alert. He wouldn't change his arm into a blade yet, though. He would admit that it was strange for Maka to leave and not lock the door. It was even stranger if she had come home and didn't lock it, but he had to consider the fact that it could happen to anyone. She could be out with Liz or something. He shouldn't take such drastic measures now.

As he proceeded to slowly move through the house, the silence wasn't so silent. Soft sounds came from the living room. He quickly rushed to the doorway, finding just Maka, alone and hunched over the single table in that bare room. She looked up at him when he came in, anger in her eyes and tears streaming down her face.

"God dammit!" she screamed. "Get out! Why did you come in!"

"The door was open and I - "

"I don't care! Just - just get out of here! NOW!"

He rushed to her side on the floor instead. "What's wrong? Did someone come in here?"

"What did I say? _Get out!_" Maka screamed, lashing a fist at his face. It caught him off-guard, both timing-wise and with how much strength and ability was behind it, but he caught it in his hand. He grabbed her other wrist as well, so he could prevent any more lashes. She seemed to just be seething now, holding in her rage.

"Maka, what's wrong?" Soul asked, breathing a bit heavily now.

After a short moment of shallow breathing, Maka whispered hoarsely.

"I hate you." She began to shake violently, her head hanging. "Why the hell can you make me cry? I've seen families die, tortured in front of each other, and I couldn't cry for them." She flashed violent eyes at Soul. She struggled against his grip on her hands and screamed at him. She broke free and grabbed the front of his shirt in her fists. "I couldn't mourn their innocent deaths! I couldn't spare a single goddamn tear for them, and you deserve my tears? I've killed people. _I KILLED THEM!_ They want me back! _Shit!_"

After the sudden outburst, she seemed to just die in front of him. She breathed low, almost like she was falling asleep. Soul took a moment to make sure she was in a somewhat calm state. Then he slowly reached a hand towards her leg. She was sitting back on her feet, so he easily placed his fingers on her thigh near her skirt. He slipped his hand carefully underneath the skirt hem, and then retreated, pulling a small knife with him as he did so.

"Is that why you carry around this?" he whispered. She didn't answer. The grip she had on his shirt had slackened just a bit. Her head hung so that he couldn't see her eyes. He would have thought she was asleep if her fists weren't still tensing every once in a while. He put down the knife, and placed his hands on her back, pulling her a bit closer.

He thought, Of course she was crying now. All of the things that she had seen on her missions had forced her into a permanent state of shock, making her numb. Now that that feeling was gone, she was in a delicate emotional balance. The smallest thing that upset her now would cause an emotional breakdown. It would be like the end of the world happening in her head.

"I'm here, Maka," he said. He felt her body go rigid, and then relax. Every muscle just released. But not her hands. He saw a tear fall out from behind her hair. "All of the people who died, all of the ones who lived, all of them who are still out there, you're their savior."

Her body shook, and he kissed the top of her head before pulling her against him. She started wailing into his shirt. Tears soiled his clothing, and hands pulled at the fabric desperately. Her cries were muffled and broken by his body. His own tears fell into her hair.

. . .

_Koria died on that mission._

_A bomb went off when she was trying to defuse it._

_Maka was relocated after the mission -_

- _via truck to a remote part of India with her hands tied behind her back._

_She spent five weeks in captivity, and then seven more working at gunpoint for her kidnappers. The Kishin eggs that had taken her found her more useful doing their dirty work for them than sitting around, tempting them to consume her soul. __Something definitely held them back from eating her. Maka assumed they worked under a more powerful Kishin egg. _

_She was limited in her activities, however, with shock collars on her neck, wrists, and ankles. One step out of line, and the electric jolts given could put anyone within an inch of their life. _

_The Kishin eggs were forcing hundreds of humans, mostly civilians, to go out and kill people for them. No blood would be on their hands. It was sickening._

_Once, Maka was suddenly dragged out of her daily manual labor by a Kishin egg that had been her caretaker for many days now. He brought her to a shack in a secluded part of the village nearby. When she walked in, she was horrified by what she saw. _

_Five children, from ages five to fifteen, were hung by their clothes from the ceiling. Some were already long dead. The others were barely clinging to life. In the corner sat the parents of the children and their oldest son, who looked close to twenty years old. The son looked badly beaten, and his parents were holding onto him, crying. The son just looked at his siblings, hung like pigs in a butchery. He cried the most._

_The Kishin egg then told Maka, "The parents refused to give their new five-year-old to the work facilities. Finish their punishment." He obviously wouldn't trust her with a weapon; she would have to do it with her bare hands. _

_Maka walked towards the civilians ever so slowly. No tears came to her. She felt so sick. But when she looked into their eyes, it looked as though they pitied her more than they pitied themselves. She knelt before them, and made one final effort to ask for forgiveness for what she was to do. She wanted to give them some form of freedom, some sort of choice of their own before they left this earth._

_"Which - " her voice cracked. She cleared her throat, and tried again. "Which one of you would like to be first?"_

_The son pushed forward first, but was held back by his father. The son whispered in his parent's ears about how he was so close to death already, he wanted to die for them, please allow me to be at peace. His father begged not to see any more of his children die in front of him, and his mother muttered fast, quiet prayers to herself while she rocked back and forth and whimpered, holding onto her son. After he talked ever so briefly and privately with his parents, the son placed his hand on Maka's arm, and said, "God blesses you. You are his angel." _

_Maka shut her lips, and reached over the son with her other hand. She gently placed her fingers on the eyes of the mother and father, making them close them. The wife cried out at this the most, and was held blindly by her husband who removed her arms from grabbing her son back. The son looked directly in Maka's eyes, and the life in them faded away before her as her fingertips pressed harder into his neck._

_With those three lives, Maka's ability to feel died. _

_Just five days later, the entire area was freed of Kishin egg control. Death Scythes, three-star meisters, and every available resource stormed the prisons, and Maka was released. After being cared for properly in a hospital and sleeping for four days straight, Maka was contacted directly by Lord Death. He told her she could come back. He told her she could come home . . ._

* * *

><p>Maka stood in the copying room of the Academy. She sifted through paper after paper, making sure they were all double-sided. Soul walked in, and stopped in the doorway for a moment when he saw her. He smiled when she looked at him, and she smiled back.<p>

"Hey," he said, walking in.

"Hey," she said. She looked back down at her papers.

He prepared his own papers for printing, thanking his luck for letting there be no one else wanting to use the printer. Competition between the teachers could get fierce over this little, run-down machine.

He pressed the button, starting the printer. After this, he looked over at Maka, who was just finishing up checking her papers. Her complexion was a healthy pink. Very cute. Nothing like the pale, sickly white she was the previous night. Her hair was completely down today, a rare occurrence.

Maka shifted, making her hair fall from her shoulder and cover her face. It bothered Soul, and before he realized what he was doing, he reached forward and moved her hair to the side.

She turned to look at him, a wide-eyed look of confusion and surprise. He was about to say something, or take his hand away, but he didn't. He just looked at her. After a while, Maka's expression relaxed, and she looked back at him.

They both leaned in quietly, and placed their lips on one another's in the first kiss the two of them ever shared.


	9. Chapter 8

**Oh My God, I'm so sorry! This has been the longest gap between chapters ever, and I feel terrible! I really struggled to get this one done. I started it months ago right after my last chapter came out, and it just sat there, needing publishing. However, just two days ago, my friend wanted to see my reviews, so when I was reading them, I suddenly went, "Holy crap, I need to publish the next chapter." So this is just evidence that reviews can do wonderful things like get me motivated to write again, so please do! Now after my mini tear jerker of a story, you get to read another ,because in this chapter you'll find out what exactly happened that made Maka leave. That's really all I've got to say. There's not much else you need to know. Read and Review, check out my profile for updates, I don't own this material, the uzzh(usual).**

**The beginning is a little . . . um, I don't know, but I felt like I had to put it in. For some reason. Eh.**

**Enjoy**

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><p>Soul hung up his coat in the front hall of Maka's apartment.<p>

"Come on," Maka said happily, grabbing Soul's wrist and pulling him down the hall, "I have something to show you."

"Alright, alright," Soul laughed as he was willingly dragged through her house. Maka's home seemed to have changed along with her. It was warmer, happier, brighter. Just like her. As he was brought into the living room, she hopped behind him and covered his eyes. "Wow, is this really necessary?" Soul asked.

Maka stifled a giggle behind him. "No. I just like the suspense," she whispered excitedly.

Once Soul had walked into the room, Maka removed her hands. She wrapped them around his waist and leaned on his back as he held her hands in turn.

When Soul looked around the room, he saw a brand new couch resting against the wall. He walked over to it.

"Oh my god, that's awesome! I always knew your living room was lacking something."

She laughed, "I actually bought it from someone down the street. They were cleaning out their house, so I took it off their hands. I do have a lot of money stashed away, but I don't see that as a reason to spend it all. A used couch serves its purpose just as well as a new one." Soul sat down on the couch, trying it out by bouncing up and down playfully. "I also had a nice conversation with the woman who sold it to me. She was very nice." Maka walked over and sat down next to him. She looked at him, and he looked back, smiling. "I love it here."

They slowly met in a kiss, and just as slowly moved their lips together before a tongue slipped in. Maka tugged on Soul's shirt, pulling him down on top of her on the couch.

Soul had thought about this. It had been hanging around them for a week now, ever since that first kiss. The sexual tension. It had been around when they were teenagers, but God had it gotten worse. It was like their hormones were going backwards. He constantly felt like shagging her like a 17-year-old kid overflowing with testosterone. He could feel her heat too, and it felt good. To be wanted like that. He honestly hadn't had a true relationship with any girl after Maka left. Hell, he never had one when she was with him or before.

But no matter how you looked at it, he and Maka had wanted to get to this stage of their relationship for a while. And it sure seemed like this was it. It was getting far too hot in the room to be a normal kiss like this from her. His pants were getting tight, and he was just about to ask her if she wanted to be on her bed instead when Soul's phone alarm went off.

"God-DAMN-it! Shut that the thing the hell off!" Maka screamed in frustration, thus breaking their contact.

Soul sheepishly got off of her, and sat on the edge of the couch taking out his obnoxiously loud cell phone. "Sorry." The situation now incredibly awkward, Soul tried to act like it was not as big of a deal as it was. "I forgot I just got projects I need to correct, so I have to get home."

Maka then quickly realized her outburst might not have been the best reaction she could have had after the little moment they had, so she spoke up. "Uh, it's okay. I mean, your alarm. You have work. I was just . . . frustrated." Maka breathed the last word like she was talking to herself, but she looked Soul dead in the eye. He got his alarm off by now, so it was simply dead, heavy, long, _awkward_, silence between them.

Soul broke eye contact, quickly looking down at his phone nervously. "Yeah. I know what you mean."

More silence.

"I'll see you Monday, Maka." Soul shoved his phone in his pocket and hastily moved for the door out of this too-hot room. But Maka grabbed his arm on his way out.

He looked down at her in a daze. Then he saw that her face, a concerned brow, open, full mouth - which he took slight pride in creating - , and slightly moist eyes reminded him of when she was younger. When he was younger. When they were partners. She was almost exactly the same. However, the position she still held on the couch did nothing to help the remnants of the teenage boy him that loved and wanted Maka with every fiber of his being.

He swallowed thickly before saying, "Yeah?"

She shifted onto her knees, placed a hand on his cheek, and kissed him. And Soul closed his eyes, and would have sworn it was the sweetest, most amazing kiss he had ever gotten from a girl. It completely made up for the fact that Soul's first kiss was not with Maka.

She separated from him with nothing more. They looked each other softly in the eyes until Maka quietly said, "Goodbye."

Soul walked out of her house, and didn't know what to do with himself. The fact that he had to wipe the corner of his mouth of a foreign taste just to look decent in public did not help. This was the moment Soul's mind had to stop and think about how he had gotten here. He had to go back. Back to a day. That day.

* * *

><p><em>It was quiet in the apartment. No one was home. Blaire was working. It was getting late though. Someone had to be coming back soon.<em>

_From far down the apartment complex stairs, muffled sounds of stomping feet could be heard along with voices. They got louder as they got higher and closer to the apartment. The voices were yelling, but in that way that people who fight in public yell when they're on the verge of tearing their opponent to shreds but still wanting to be considerate of the people around them. You would have thought they were outside the door two flights ago by how loud their voices were._

_Louder. _

_Soul burst through the front door, Maka directly behind him, fire in her eyes. _

_"Soul, we need to talk about what happened today!" Soul didn't remember what had happened earlier, all he could see clearly of that day was what happened after._

_"No, we don't, Maka!" Soul forced himself to turn around briefly, and regretted it. Now he had to look her in the eye. He couldn't control himself around her the way he used to. "We're - I'm screwing things up, alright? I'm making stupid mistakes - like I haven't done that before. I'll get it! We always figure it out, so just give it time. And leave me alone!" He turned around again so he could take off into the solitude of his room._

_Maka would have let him go at that. She really would have, under normal circumstances. She saw he was upset, stressed, and recognized it, so she would have let him go. But these weren't normal circumstances. Not to her, not through her eyes. He had been so distant lately. Didn't want to touch her, talk for too long. He was going out earlier each night and coming back later. And "hanging with Black Star and Kid" was not an activity that was meant to take that long. She had thought about confronting him when he came home so late, but her courage failed her by the time he walked through the front door. Just awkward exchanges were left between them. So under these conditions, when her rage was high, and adrenaline flooded her veins, she did not want to let him go._

_"NO!" Soul stopped, and involuntarily looked back at her. There was so much emotion in her eyes that he had never in his life seen in any person. She stepped purposefully towards him. "You have not talked to me about **anything** lately! And I hate it! I know what we're doing at school now is hard and frustrating, but that is not what I am concerned about right now! It's annoying the shit out of me that you will not listen to me, because you think I'm not listening to you or you think I can't see what's happening to you. I have no clue what it is but it's something. And it's something that's keeping you separate from me; separate from everyone around you!"_

_Soul was stunned for a few seconds but he got back his breath. "And what the hell do you think you know about how I feel?" God, his head hurt. Their souls ground against each other._

_"**Nothing!**" They both breathed heavily against the air of the quiet apartment. "But it hurts more than just you, whatever it is you're going through!"_

_No. He could see those foreign emotions in her eyes clearer now. God, he hated hurting her. He had to fix this. _

_His head throbbed like it was smashed against concrete. _

_He took a threatening step towards her until he towered over her small body bravely looking up into his eyes. Lowly, he said, "Don't get me confused with your sleazebag of a father just because you could never talk to him." _

_Maka's emotions sank out of her eyes in the form of damp tears that didn't fall. No. No, no, no, what was he saying? He didn't want this. He didn't want to hurt her! _

_Someone grabbed his head and soul at the same time and squeezed. _

_He needed to get out of there. He turned and left Maka standing in the kitchen._

_"No wonder you don't want to talk. Your family taught you to run away from your problems!"_

_The sound of his hand against her face was the most sickening sound ever to vibrate through the air of the apartment. The sound of Maka hitting the floor followed soon after._

_Time stood still, re-winded, fast forwarded, and then played in slow motion. All of it happened again in Soul's mind to tell him what he had done, and shoved his throbbing face in it. But it was nothing compared to the torture of seeing what he made Maka into doubled over on the tile floor. Hair denied Soul sight of her face, dripping with tears, and stinging red._

_The anger immediately disappeared from Soul's face, and he lowered his hand to his side. "I . . . Maka -"_

_Maka, at the sound of his voice, scrambled clumsily, desperately towards the door. Life played in real time now. Soul yelled after her, the weight of it all crushing him. Before he knew it, there was no trace of Maka except for the open front door, and the quick, distant sound of footsteps falling on the apartment complex stairs._

_It finally became clear exactly what his anger had made him do. It made him sick. So sick. He ran for the kitchen trash bin. _

_Blaire came home a little less than an hour later to find Soul still hunched and gagging over the waste basket, sobbing, his skin white as hair. The stench of vomit mixed with salt tears was unbearable. He muttered over and over to himself about something he had done, how much he hated himself. _

_After Blaire had tried to calm him down but given up, calling everyone else to come, Soul stopped crying and said something audible. He said he had hurt Maka. He said she wasn't coming back, and it was his fault, and that Blaire was to tell everyone that when they arrived. He then picked himself up, grabbed the roll of paper towels sitting on the kitchen counter, and went into his room. Blaire truly believed what she saw in his face in that moment was loss of life. Absence of hope. A young boy who just lost everything he cared about most, and hadn't the slightest idea of what to do next._

_Soul wished he could've thrown up some more. He had a clearer head now, but the mist still clung dearly to parts of his mind he didn't want to know about at this time. But there was one thing the fog could not disguise. The one thing that made Soul the most disgusted with himself. _

_The fact that after Maka was gone, after she had vanished from his sight for what could be forever, in that first moment of him choking pathetically on the floor of their kitchen, he realized he loved her._

* * *

><p>Maka never did come back after that. She graduated early under special conditions and then disappeared of the face of the Earth for about three months. Then Tsubaki got a call from a military base in the U.K. assuring her that Maka was alright, and would be going abroad for work. It was never talked about too much after that either. Soul pretended it was all fine, that Maka had made a decision. His friends never questioned him on it.<p>

Soul just stood outside her house as the memories flooded back into his mind. He remembered the pain of that night so clearly. He hated it. But now, he had a second chance. He had Maka back, and he had her like he never had her before. He could not fuck this up. He just couldn't.

He turned around, and walked right back up to her doorstep and knocked.

The second she opened the door he kissed her deeply. After she said, "Did you leave some of your tongue behind?" He didn't kiss her like that, so it was a joke, but he did not laugh. She turned serious at the sight of his expression and asked him, "What did you need?"

"I need to talk to you about the day we left each other."

Soul watched her face show no emotion for fifteen seconds. "Come in."

* * *

><p><strong> Holy Jesus, Mary, Mother of God that is finally done! It was so late, and again, I am so sorry! I am trying to get back on top of my stories for you all again, but it may take a bit, so bear with me. However, it's also getting close to the end of the story, so I won't be pissing you off for much longer, I promise! I have a oneshot for Soul and Maka that I hope will be coming out soon, so stay tuned for that. But other than that I hoped you enjoyed finally finding out why she left, as depressing as it was. Reviews = Love <strong>


	10. Chapter 9

**Alrighty, kiddies! This chapter is the finale to this saga(wrong word) of mine. I have loved the support I got from all of the people who followed, reviewed, and gave me feedback on this story. It has really encouraged me to write better stories - and more, for that fact. This was my first fic ever published, and it will always be dear to my heart. Sure there were times when the chapters were released in . . . lengthy periods of time, but in the end, it was worth it. I have enjoyed every second of working on this, and please, as the fans, I write for you, so if you have requests or ideas, send them to me. My readers are my biggest priority.**

**Hope to see you in the next one!**

**Ruby D. Ismean**

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><p>Soul was starting to regret it. He had had so much confidence in himself when he turned back towards her house, but now he was sitting in her living room with the air tighter than it had ever been between them. It was suffocating him.<p>

He might as well jump. "As I said - " He faltered a bit when his eyes met hers, her gaze steady " - I want to talk to you about what happened ten years ago. The day you left." He was not trying to sugarcoat this. "The day I screwed up." But he could try to apologize.

What was between them now was what he had wanted since the day he met her, even if he hadn't realized it himself. He was risking it all with this one. This could possibly ruin everything he had done for the past ten years, and even before that, to finally get her to belong to him. Like this. Not a partner, a meister. Just her and him. This could destroy his life forever. He would go back to wallowing in self-pity, day-dreaming about the one that got away, have a long, never-ending string of short-term relationships that were doomed from the start, trying to convince himself that he could get over her if there was just someone else. But there was no one else. She was Maka. He loved her, and he could never let her go.

But somehow, this possibility didn't weigh too heavily in Soul's mind. He felt strangely reassured that it would all turn out for the better. They would talk this through, figure it out, and they could be together.

"Where exactly would we start?" she asked. He realized then that she had said this simply to get him to talk, as he had just been sitting there for a while now, lost in his thoughts.

"Um . . . " Oh God, he hadn't thought that far. "Maybe . . . My - . . . shoot . . ."

"How about where it started?"

Soul shut up his blabbering. It made perfect sense.

"Okay, then." The room settled into a calm, almost therapeutic silence. He looked her directly into her eyes. "How about when we came into our apartment?"

"Yes." Maka closed her eyes.

"We were fighting . . . about nothing." He moved towards her.

"Nothing . . . " she echoed.

"I said something. Something that hurt you." He moved closer.

"Something . . . " Maka's eyebrows furrowed, like she was in deep concentration and pain.

Soul moved closer.

"You said something that hurt me." He was on his knees right in front of her now.

"I hurt you." She opened her eyes to look into his, his face an inch from hers.

He brought a hand up to gently touch her left cheek. He looked at it sadly. "I hurt you."

Warm silence befell them. Everything made sense, nothing unclear. Soul kept stroking her cheek with one finger, softly. After a long, comfortable period of not speaking, they felt anything could be said, but nothing had to be. Even so, Soul needed to get all these years of feelings across to her.

"It was my fault." Maka was quickly brought back from the haze Soul's finger had put her in to look at him with a newly kindled spark in her eyes. It was beautiful. "I never should have reacted that way."

She smiled. "You idiot. It was my fault. I never should have said something like that to you. It came out of a stupid fight, too. And on top of that, I ran away. Like a coward. I deserved it."

He held her face in his hands, pushing her eyes to meet his. "You never deserve to be hurt, Maka. Ever."

She wanted to say something, but his look caused her words to fail her. So she nodded. He kissed her. She kissed him back.

When they separated, she spoke. "People say things they don't really mean to each other all the time. Seems like we were just being dramatic about it." She giggled.

"I think it turned out for the better, don't you?" He smirked devilishly before kissing her again, deeply.

"Well, I don't think that will be a problem from now on." She smiled.

"Either way, I love you. And I mean that." He said it so simply, so plainly. Staring strongly into her eyes: looking for a reaction or simply trying to make her believe it, she didn't know.

She slowly put her fingers between his, and got up. He was still looking up at her with that look. She put on a blank face, let go, and walked to the door that led to her bedroom. It was slightly ajar as she stood facing away from Soul and towards it. Then she turned, smirked mischievously, and said, "I know."

Soul looked confused and a bit surprised.

Maka slipped off her jacket, letting it fall to the floor. "But you still need to prove it." She walked out.

Soul was left with his jaw slack in her living room. Once it sunk in, he smiled, and then enthusiastically ran after her.

Yeah, that wasn't going to be a problem anymore.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh my god, you guys! (Legally Blonde-that was for you, Carmen) That was it you guys! I struggled for so long with this ending, that's why it took me forever to publish it. I was so scared that it was going to end. I'm also sorry it's so short! I just wrote how I felt it, and I don't feel it needs anything more. <strong>

**It got pretty flowery in the middle there, that's why I'm glad I thought of that slightly sexual moment at the end to make it a bit more suited to my tastes. I managed to write this entire chapter during my eternal tech rehearsal for Anne of Green Gables where I didn't have to do anything for 9 hours straight! I guess it's good because I wouldn't have been able to finish this if I didn't have it, except I'm still here! And we're only half way through my first scene! We're on a 10 minute break right now. Anyway, if you want to see my sweet, heartfelt goodbye to all the readers who have been with me through this, look at the top of this chapter.**

**I love you all. Thank you so much for making this a great year and a half.**

**KawaiiChibiHime33 - Ruby D. Ismean**


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